It is a well-accepted fact that many communities were changed, and even shaped, by the impact of the First World War. From coast to coast, the war claimed the lives of thousands of Canadians, tested the industrial capacity of Canada’s cities, and strained federal and municipal politics. The Waterloo Region was no exception to the sweeping effect of the war upon their unique society. The Canadian Censuses, in 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, and 1911, reveal several trends that indicate that the Waterloo Region had a unique cultural and economic landscape in Southern Ontario. This first section discussed who the people of the Waterloo Region were ethnically, religiously, economically, and politically before the outbreak of the war. In order to understand the events and reactions of those living in the Region during the First World War, it is useful to develop an understanding of the people residing in the Region prior to 1914.

The Mennonites who first came to the Waterloo Region were known as the “Pennsylvania Germans,” who had settled in the northern region of the British Thirteen Colonies (New England) as early as 1753. They arrived under a British incentive to bring hard working “foreign Protestants” to North America, to counterbalance the French Catholic presence. The Mennonites were also known as individuals who could successfully develop agricultural settlements in any conditions. Due to their strong religious, ethnic, and familial ties, the Mennonites were not assimilated into New England society. The Mennonites, who religiously opposed violence, did not become involved in the American Revolution (1775-1783) militarily, and were not assimilated into the growing “American” nation.

Between 1780 and 1830, the Mennonites emigrated from the United States into modern day Southern Ontario, primarily the region that was named “Waterloo” (to commemorate British and Allied victory at the famous Napoleonic battle), after 1815. Before the Region was named, , Pennsylvania Germans purchased 60,000 acres of land along the Grand Riverin 1805. This became known as the “German Company Tract”. The Mennonite settlers established a strong agricultural tradition, and established a German-speaking society. The pioneering, farming, and cultural roots that the Mennonites established in the Region attracted immigrants from the German States. Immigrants from the smaller kingdoms and duchies, which later formed a unified Germany, immigrated to the Waterloo Region. European Germans soon eclipsed the Mennonite population by 1830. Both the Mennonite and European Germans contributed to the German cultural identity of Waterloo Region.

(McLaughlin, Kenneth. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association, 1985.)

This sub-district of the Waterloo Region, made up primarily of the town of Waterloo, the city of Berlin (now Kitchener, as of 1917), Elmira, and surrounding rural communities, is best known for its Mennonite population, who arrived shortly after the turn of the 19th century. Mennonites and European Germans purchased land along the Grand River as a part of the German Company Tract to settle Waterloo North. The Mennonite community has inspired several tourist attractions, such as the St. Jacobs Market and the Pioneer Memorial Tower. Both of these landmarks are symbols of settlement, hard work, and unique Mennonite heritage. However, by 1911, Mennonite people were a minority in the Waterloo Region and lived collectively primarily in the rural areas of Waterloo North. The region’s German-Canadian population was comprised mostly of European German immigrants who outnumbered the Mennonites soon after their arrival in Southern Ontario. After the Mennonites settled the region in the early 19th century, waves of German immigrants seeking to escape the conditions of war torn Europe settled the region between 1812 and 1815. Until the 1860s, immigrants from Germany flooded to the region, often departing from Bremmen, Germany. Once they arrived in Quebec they travelled to the Waterloo Region, drawn to the region due to the overwhelming presence of German culture there.

While Waterloo North was largely shaped by an ethnically German population, Waterloo South, comprised of the small towns of Hespeler, Preston, and Ayr, as well as the larger town of Galt (present day Cambridge), present a different story. The small towns of Hespeler and Preston share a similar story to that of Waterloo North, comprised primarily of German Lutherans. Galt and Ayr are unique, as they reflect Anglo-Celtic ethnic and religious dominance.

In 1816, the Honourable William Dickson, a Scottish politician from Dumfries, Scotland, sealed the fate of the district. Dickson established the settlement of Shade’s Mills, and portioned out his 90,000 acres of land primarily to lowland Scots. Soon after, Dickson renamed the settlement Galt, named after Scottish novelist John Galt. Dickson advertised immigration to Galt, Ontario in Scottish newspapers and primarily attracted Scots from the lowlands of Roxboroughshire and Selkirkshire. Dickson’s efforts solidified British dominance in Waterloo South by 1911.

The strong German presence in the Waterloo Region did not overshadow British imperialism in the late nineteenth century. On May 24, 1857, the Village of Berlin, alongside the newly inaugurated Village of Waterloo, celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday with cannon fire and brass bands. Some citizens even boarded trains to Toronto to join in the imperial festivities there. The Queen’s birthday celebration in 1857 is one example of the ethnic German population rallying together to prove their loyalty to the British Empire. Beginning in 1899, the region enthusiastically celebrated the first Empire Day, which occurred on 24 May (Queen Victoria’s birthday).This event became an annual opportunity to celebrate ties to Great Britain.

The Sängerfest, or “Singer Festival,” was an expression of German musical culture through a competition between Sängerbunds (German choirs). This public festival, also known as Liederfest, or “Song Festival,” drew competing choirs from all over the German communities of Southern Ontario and the United States of America. The first Sängerfest was held in Berlin, Ontario in August 1862. The Sängerfest allowed the German citizens of Waterloo Region to express their cultural identity and heritage in a nonpolitical and artistic manner. On 19 August 1875, the New York Times published an account of the Sängerfest in Berlin. It remarked that the first day of the ceremony was marked by a grand public reception, followed by an evening concert in a decorated hall, holding a reported 10,000 spectators from both Canada and the United States; the final day was marked by a grand ball. The Sängerfest not only attracted citizens of German ancestry, but also led thousands of tourists of mixed ancestry to attend the cultural event.

In 1893, the Concordia Choir in Berlin, the Male Choir in Elmira, and the Liederkranz Choir in Toronto, formed a Canadian Choir Federation, which became responsible for working with other German choir federations in planning the Sängerfests in Southern Ontario, notably in Berlin, Waterloo, Elmira, Guelph, Hamilton, and Toronto. Sängerfests were also held in the United States, such as the one held in Olympic Park in Newark, New Jersey, which drew in a crowd of 25,000 people. In August 1902, the first International Sängerfest was held in Waterloo, attracting choirs from all over Canada and the United States. The choirs performed primarily in German, but also in English. In 1912, the 50th Anniversary of Song Festivals in Canada was held. The Sängerfestsin Waterloo-Berlin continued annually until the outbreak of the First World War in the summer of 1914, when expressions of German culture and heritage stopped.

(Breithaupt, W.H. ‘The Saengerfest of 1875,’ 22nd Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, Kitchener: 1935; Hayes, Geoffrey. “From Berlin to the Trek of the Conestoga: A Revisionist Approach to Waterloo County’s German Identity.” Ontario History 2, 1999: 131-150.; Leibbrandt, D. Gottlieb. ‘One hundred years of Concordia,’ Waterloo County Historical Society 61, 1973; “The German Saengerfest in Canada,” The New York Times, 1875; “Saengerfest Concert Draws Crowd of 25,000,” The New York Times, 1906.)

The end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 resulted in the unification of the German States into a United Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm I, the King of Prussia. On 2 May 1871, Citizens of Berlin, Ontario flooded the streets to celebrate the end of the European conflict in the form of a Friedensfest, or “Peace Festival.” They celebrated through parades, speeches, music, mass-choir singing, and fireworks. German clubs from throughout Canada and the United States, gathered alongside citizens of Berlin, and planted an oak tree to symbolize the end of the conflict.

In 1896, citizens gathered again to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Friedensfest. A year later, on 13 May 1897, a publicly funded monument was erected in Victoria Park in Berlin of Kaiser Wilhelm I, which was unveiled in a grand ceremony. The Friedensfest is an example of how the European German presence had vastly eclipsed that of the German Mennonite in Waterloo Region by 1871. This festival is also indicative of a growing “global village,” as citizens celebrated the end of a foreign conflict at home. Like the Säengerfest, the celebration of Friedensfest ended with the outbreak of the First World War.

At the turn of the 20th century, religion played a crucial role as a cultural identifier, and influenced the social lives of citizens. While Waterloo Region was ethnically diverse, it was religiously diverse as well. German culture is evident from the religious breakdown of Waterloo North. German Lutherans remained the dominant religious group between 1871 and 1911, growing from a total of 5959 of the total population of 19,256 in 1871, to 11,251 of the total population 33,619 in Waterloo North in 1911. Other prominent religions in the Waterloo North in 1911 were Roman Catholics, numbering 7,223, Mennonites numbering 4,006, and Methodists numbering 2,904. While the Mennonites congregated in larger numbers outside of major town centers, they were still present as a minority in Waterloo, Berlin, and Elmira. Regardless of the religious diversity of Waterloo North there is no evidence of conflict among the groups in contrast to the situation in Germany and Europe. They were united through a common German ancestry, the nostalgic use of the German language, German cultural festivals, and the Christian faith.

At the turn of the 20th century, religion played a crucial role as a cultural identifier, and influenced the social lives of citizens. While Waterloo Region was ethnically diverse, it was religiously diverse as well. Waterloo South was a mixed society. The towns of Galt and Ayr had a unique ethnic and religious identity in contrast to that of their German counterparts.

While Lutheranism was the most prominent religion of the Waterloo North, religions closely associated with Britain, such as Anglicanism, Presbyterianism, and Methodism, were dominant in the Waterloo South. This is most evident in Galt, where the dominant parishioners were 4,240 Presbyterians, 1,930 Anglicans, and 2,122 Methodists. The exception to this dominance of Anglo-Protestants is Preston, whose parishioners were 862 Lutherans, 844 Roman Catholics, 707 Methodists, 704 Anglicans, and 525 Presbyterians in 1911. Much like Waterloo North, these parishioners worked together as the majority of citizens shared Christian beliefs.

In 1911, the leading cultural backgrounds of the populations of Galt and Ayr were Scottish, followed by sizable English and Irish populations, with a minority German population. Galt’s dominant populations were 4345 Scottish, 3707 English, 1044 Irish, and 866 people of German ancestry, making the city predominantly British in ancestry. Ayr presents a similar situation, with 432 Scottish, 227 English, 68 Irish, and 68 people of German ancestry. Hespeler, Preston, and surrounding rural areas were quite different, as German ethnics held the majority, followed by an abundance of English people. Hespeler featured a population of 866 Germans, 698 English, 490 Scottish, and 246 Irish, and Preston held 1795 Germans, 1131 English, 342 Irish, and 341 Scottish. Therefore, while Hespeler and Preston had a significant German-Canadian population, British-Canadians outnumbered German-Canadians. Additionally, Waterloo South received 4,607 immigrants from Great Britain, most of which came from England and Scotland. Waterloo South was diverse, but was overwhelmingly Canadian. Much like Waterloo North, the residents were primarily Canadian by birth.